Bacterial extracellular vesicles (BEVs) produced by gut commensal bacteria have been proposed to play an important role in maintaining host homeostasis interactions with the immune system. Details of the mediators and pathways of BEV-immune cell interactions are however incomplete. In this study, we provide evidence for the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties of extracellular vesicles produced by the prominent human gut commensal bacterium (Bt BEVs) and identify the molecular mechanisms underlying their interaction with innate immune cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe gastrointestinal (GI) tract harbours a complex microbial community, which contributes to its homeostasis. A disrupted microbiome can cause GI-related diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), therefore identifying host-microbe interactions is crucial for better understanding gut health. Bacterial extracellular vesicles (BEVs), released into the gut lumen, can cross the mucus layer and access underlying immune cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Communication between the gut microbiota and the brain is primarily mediated via soluble microbe-derived metabolites, but the details of this pathway remain poorly defined. Methylamines produced by microbial metabolism of dietary choline and L-carnitine have received attention due to their proposed association with vascular disease, but their effects upon the cerebrovascular circulation have hitherto not been studied.
Results: Here, we use an integrated in vitro/in vivo approach to show that physiologically relevant concentrations of the dietary methylamine trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) enhanced blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity and protected it from inflammatory insult, acting through the tight junction regulator annexin A1.
The itch associated with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), including Mycosis Fungoides (MF) and Sézary syndrome (SS), is often severe and poorly responsive to treatment with antihistamines. Recent studies have highlighted the possible role of interleukins in nonhistaminergic itch. We investigated the role of IL-31 and IL-8 in CTCL, concerning disease severity and associated itch.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this work, the effect of the use of two autochthonous starter cultures ( LS131 + SA25 (EQU), or LS131 + SB12 (SAP)) on the physicochemical, microbiological, proteolytic and lipolytic changes taking place during the manufacture of Galician chorizo, a traditional Spanish sausage, was studied. Three different batches (control (CNT), EQU and SAP) were manufactured in triplicate and analysed during the manufacturing process (samples were taken and analysed at 0, 2, 5, 9, 14, 21 and 30 days of ripening) for proximate composition, pH, a, colour parameters, nitrogen fractions, free amino acids, biogenic amines, fat parameters and free fatty acids. The use of either of these two starter cultures slightly but significantly reduced the pH values during the fermentation and increased the percentage of transformation to nitrosyl-heme pigments as well as the a* and b* values in the final products.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGamma delta T cells (Tc) are divided according to the type of Vδ and Vγ chains they express, with two major γδ Tc subsets being recognized in humans: Vδ2Vγ9 and Vδ1. Despite many studies in pathological conditions, only a few have quantified the γδ Tc subsets in healthy adults, and a comprehensive review of the factors influencing its representation in the blood is missing. Here we quantified the total γδ Tc and the Vδ2/Vγ9 and Vδ1 Tc subsets in the blood from 30 healthy, Caucasian, Portuguese adults, we characterized their immunophenotype by 8-color flow cytometry, focusing in a few relevant Tc markers (CD3/TCR-γδ, CD5, CD8), and costimulatory (CD28), cytotoxic (CD16) and adhesion (CD56) molecules, and we examined the impacts of age and gender.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGram-negative bacteria ubiquitously produce and release nano-size, non-replicative outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). In the gastrointestinal (GI-) tract, OMVs generated by members of the intestinal microbiota are believed to contribute to maintaining the intestinal microbial ecosystem and mediating bacteria-host interactions, including the delivery of bacterial effector molecules to host cells to modulate their physiology. Bacterial OMVs have also been found in the bloodstream although their origin and fate are unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe human gastrointestinal (gut) microbiota comprises diverse and dynamic populations of bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, and protozoa, coexisting in a mutualistic relationship with the host. When intestinal homeostasis is perturbed, the function of the gastrointestinal tract and other organ systems, including the brain, can be compromised. The gut microbiota is proposed to contribute to blood-brain barrier disruption and the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGram-negative bacteria naturally produce and secrete nanosized outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). In the human gastrointestinal tract, OMVs produced by commensal Gram-negative bacteria can mediate interactions amongst host cells (including between epithelial cells and immune cells) and maintain microbial homeostasis. This OMV-mediated pathway for host-microbe interactions could be exploited to deliver biologically active proteins to the body.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is long-standing evidence that male and female rat livers differ in enzyme activity. More recently, differences in gene expression profiling have also been found to exist; however, it is still unclear whether there is morphological expression of male/female differences in the normal liver. Such differences could help to explain features seen at the pathological level, such as the greater regenerative potential generally attributed to the female liver.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudies of chemokine receptors (CKR) in natural killer- (NK-) cells have already been published, but only a few gave detailed information on its differential expression on blood NK-cell subsets. We report on the expression of the inflammatory and homeostatic CKR on normal blood CD56(+low) CD16(+) and CD56(+high) CD16(-/+low) NK-cells. Conventional CD56(+low) and CD56(+high) NK-cells present in the normal PB do express CKR for inflammatory cytokines, although with different patterns CD56(+low) NK-cells are mainly CXCR1/CXCR2(+) and CXCR3/CCR5(-/+), whereas mostly CD56(+high) NK-cells are CXCR1/CXCR2(-) and CXCR3/CCR5(+).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbnormally low CD8+ T-lymphocyte numbers is characteristic of some patients with hereditary hemochromatosis (HH), a MHC-linked disorder of iron overload. Both environmental and genetic components are known to influence CD8+ T-lymphocyte homeostasis but the role of the HH associated protein HFE is still insufficiently understood. Genome-wide expression profiling was performed in peripheral blood CD8+ T lymphocytes from HH patients selected according to CD8+ T-lymphocyte numbers and from Hfe-/- mice maintained either under normal or high iron diet conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The present work deals with the evaluation of the effect of three different commercial starter cultures (Chr. Hansen, Hørsholm, Denmark) on the volatile compound profile and sensory properties, as well as some important physicochemical parameters, of dry-fermented foal sausages at the end of ripening in order to select the most suitable starter culture for this elaboration. The sausage batches were named as follows: CO (non-inoculated control), FS (Lactobacillus sakei + Staphylococcus carnosus), SM (L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Literacy for health (LH) may be considered a set of skills that people appropriate, understand, evaluate and use information and knowledge of health to make informed choices, reduce risks to their health, maintain a healthy nutritional status and enhance quality of life.
Objectives: To assess the level of literacy for health; analyse the relationship of socio-demographic variables with LH; to classify the Body Mass Index (BMI) and to determine the effect of LH on BMI.
Design: a quantitative study with a descriptive and cross-sectional approach conducted in the centre and north of Portugal.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of pH, temperature, and NaCl on growth, proteolytic and lipolytic activities, and the ability to produce biogenic amines of 19 strains of Bacillus isolated from Androlla and Botillo (two Spanish traditional sausages) to elucidate the role of these bacteria in sausage manufacture. All strains grew in the presence of 10% salt and at pH values of 5.0 and 5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of this work was to define a simple technological process for dry-cured Halal goat meat elaboration. The aims of this study were to analyze physicochemical parameters and to enumerate the microbial population at the end of the different manufacturing processes (two salting times and the addition of olive oil and paprika covering) on 36 units of meat product. A total of 532 strains were isolated from several selective culture media and then identified using classical and molecular methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report 12 cases of aggressive natural killer (NK) cell neoplasms diagnosed in Portugal, with emphasis on flow cytometry. Ten patients had extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma, nasal type and two had aggressive NK cell leukemia, and seven were men and five were women, with a median age of 50 years. NK cells brightly expressed the CD56 adhesion molecule and CD94 lectin type killer receptor and had an activation-related HLA-DR+ CD45RA+ CD45RO+ immunophenotype, in most cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Dry-cured 'lacón' is a traditional cured meat product made in the north-west of Spain from the pigs' foreleg, with similar manufacturing process to that used in dry-cured ham. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of cross-breeding of Celta pig with Landrace or Duroc breeds on the formation of volatile compounds through the manufacture of 'lacón'.
Results: 'Lacón' from the crosses with Duroc presented lower final moisture (534 g kg(-1) ) and higher intra-muscular fat content [144 g kg(-1) dry matter (DM)] than 'lacón' from Celta pure breed (587 g kg(-1) and 36 g kg(-1) DM, respectively).
The influence of four different cooking methods (roasting, grilling, microwaving and frying) on cooking loss, lipid oxidation and volatile profile of foal meat was studied. Cooking loss were significantly (P<0.001) affected by thermal treatment, being higher (32.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe incidence of inflammatory bowel disease is increasing worldwide and the underlying molecular mechanisms are far from being fully elucidated. Herein, we evaluated the role of N-glycosylation dysregulation in T cells as a key mechanism in the ulcerative colitis (UC) pathogenesis. The evaluation of the branched N-glycosylation levels and profile of intestinal T cell receptor (TCR) were assessed in colonic biopsies from UC patients and healthy controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe development of Lactobacillus and Staphylococcus strains used as starter cultures throughout the ripening of Galician chorizo, a traditional dry fermented sausage from the north-west of Spain, was monitored combining different molecular-based techniques. The bacterial diversity occurring in the inoculated sausages at the beginning and the end of the ripening was also studied and compared to the indigenous population in an uninoculated control batch. Real-time PCR was used to monitor the Lactobacillus and Staphylococcus community using genus and species-specific primer to quantify the occurring microbiota.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe dynamics of the bacterial population throughout the ripening of Galician chorizo, a traditional dry fermented sausage produced in the north-west of Spain, were investigated by using classical and molecular approaches. Fermented sausages are certainly complex matrices with PCR inhibitors and background microbiota. Therefore, two different DNA preparation methods were performed to elaborate each standard curve and no significant differences were found, showing a very good correlation between both methods (R(2)>0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study was to determine the technological properties (nitrate reductase, proteolytic and lipolytic activities; and the ability to grow at the temperature and pH values of fermenting sausage, and at high NaCl concentrations) and safety characteristics (amino acid decarboxylase and enterotoxigenic activities) of 38 strains of Staphylococcaceae (11 of Staphylococcus epidermidis, 15 of Staphylococcus equorum, 5 of Staphylococcus pasteuri and 7 of Staphylococcus saprophyticus) isolated from Androlla and Botillo, two Spanish traditional sausages, in order to evaluate their suitability as potential starter cultures in the manufacture of these sausages. Most strains were able to grow at 10 °C, in the presence of 10% and 15% NaCl and at pH values of 5.5 and 5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHistidine, lysine, ornithine, and tyrosine decarboxylase activities were tested in 38 strains of Staphylococcus (15 of S. equorum, 11 of S. epidermidis, 7 of S.
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